Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Informal Research - Internet

The first one is random but proves that America is not a democracy. So this guy (<-- idiot?) posts a poll asking whether or not Obama should be killed. The guy is being "persecuted to the fullest extent of the law". The second one calculates the amount of electricity something uses according to someone's own numbers. A laptop, used 3 hours a day, in NY, for 31 days per month, uses up 4.2kWh/mo. That is $0.76 per month and $9.12 per year. In October 2004, scientists done studies resulting in bumps of the side on which phone was used. In March 2003, a study concluded that phone users had a 30% increase risk of getting cancer. Based on these inconsistent studies, we cannot conclude whether or not cell phone radiation cause tumors.

What happened to Freedom of Speech? This guy just said something, even though it was offensive, but I thought he had the right to say these things. If he (or she) is going to be put on trial for saying something, what does that say about our country and the First Amendment? Now, if we were to cut down half an hour of laptop a day, we would save 0.7kWh/mo., $0.13 a mo. and $1.56. Maybe we should cut down some more? That is enough to power a 42" ceiling fan on low, wouldn't you want to keep cool? I also noticed that a Nintendo Wii uses less power and costs less than any other video console. Best pick, you get to exercise while being sucked into the digital world. My sister used to tell me that cell phone radiations cause brain cancer. But now, we don't even know if it does. Scientific research are so untrustworthy.

HW 8

Henry
OMG, it is scary; you are not moving....

Playing video games is fine if it takes only a portion of your time during the day. But if yu sit there like that for the rest of your life, that is going to be a problem. People are sticking their faces into the screens because the virtual them is in there doing amazing things. People are spending too much time on DRDs.

You have a great point when you talked about how people play video games because it takes too much energy to get up and do things yourselves. I think this brings up 2 points: people play MMORPG because their in game character can do things people in real life can't, and we are getting lazy.

I think you could have expanded on your feelings during which you were playing the game. I am actually wondering what you were thinking when you were playing. Were you thinking about the game? Or were you more conscious about the camera?

If we are playing MMORPG because it is easy for us to just sit back and control the character, how can we encourage people to get up and play UNO or billiards in real life?

My video is still in the making so... don't check yet.

Jakob
Good point about the attention span; we cannot even read a 3 line sentence without remembering what the first two lines said.

And again, you brought up the fact that yu were doing the same thing you did 5 minutes before (I am assuming you started editing right after you shot the video). Imagine that for 15 minutes or maybe even half an hour. No offense but I was kinda bored watching it (mine was not any better though).

When you said that, it reminded me of Sandy's video. I don't know if you seen it, but she took a video of herself and then took a video of herself editing the video. It was kinda cool for a moment, but when you think about it, watching yourself do that same thing over and over again gets boring.

I noticed that you were on your laptop? and that you are not on a computer desk like most people are in the video. This, I guess is a good thing because we can get comfortable in our beds, doing homework. But, we get too comfortable that I think it is making it harder for us to cut back on computer.

Even right now, I am on a laptop typing this comment to you. It is still a little painful but it beats sitting on a chair. I am actually about to fall asleep so when I am finished writing this comment, I will slide under my covers.

Thanks for the new ideas, good night.

Andy
I think your other video was cooler....

I actually did not really understand what you meant in your first response. You said you did not need to try really hard... doing what, before giving up... on what?

You want to stay away from the DRDs but as seen in your video, you were in contact with at least two of them. Good point about how our parents do not want us on computers yet we still are and probably in the future, kids will be doing the same thing. Wiis are game consoles that allow us to still be stimulated by DRDs while getting exercise.

That actually remind me of the analysis over time. There is the thesis (the fact that we are entertained by video games) and there is the antithesis (the fact that video games are keeping us from being active). Then Wii comes along and takes aspects from both the thesis and the antithesis; Wii is the higher synthesis.

You might want to expand on your second to last question. On the internet, people cannot really tell if you are being sarcastic. You have a spelling error too: last response "uni".

If our parents do not want us on computers but we still do go on them, and we do not want kids in the future to be on computers, does that mean that they will definitely be on computers? It sounds as if you think it is inevitable for kids in the future to be on computers. Will we or should we be the ones to set a model for people in the future?

And lastly, you gotta teach me some editing skills one day.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Interviews and Surveys

Q: What do you think about IM-ing to the person in the next room?

A: Um.... either the people are lazy, don't like communicating directly, or feel like it'd be awkward if they talked directly."

I feel that she actually thought about the question because it took her a minute to pause and think before giving me an answer.

[edits 9/25/09]

Q: How much time do you spend on digital devices?

A#1: 12 hours
A#2: all day

Q: Should adults be allowed to spend more time on digital devices than kids?

A#1: No, everyone should be limited to 3 hours per week; phone is more time efficient and you can connect with people overseas; text is time consuming
A#2: Yes

Q: Are you going to get your kids a laptop and a cellphone?

A: Yeah, everyone else has a laptop so he should get one, too. He needs a cellphone to keep in contact with me.

Q: Do you feel insulted or complimented when I say that you look like someone who would be captured in the digital world?

A#1: Not insulted or complimented.
A#2: Complimented, makes me sound young.
A#3: Yes, the digital world is unreal.

[edits 9/27/09 5:11PM]
Q: How much time do you spend on digital devices?
A: Um... 6 hours a day?

Q:Should adults be allowed to spend more time on digital devices than kids?
A: No,well that depends. If an adult works from home they would use the computer more than their kids, since kids go to school and such where their access to computers is limited. Kids should be able to do what they want and not always obey the path that their parents took because their parents probably didn't take their "grand parents" path either.

Q: Do you feel insulted or complimented when I say that you look like someone who would be captured in the digital world?
A: No, the other guy is just jealous xD

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Response to First Comments plus Other Comments

To Michelle:
I think that the electronic stimulation devices has made progress in technology but it has also dragged us down. To answer your question, I guess I am leaning towards the side in which using these devices is not worth being efficient. I feel that being efficient makes things complicated; everyone likes things kept simple.

To Henry:
My fault for not explaining what I meant by "real". Like Snyder said in class, we do not hear people's voices through the phone; we are only hearing the vibrations made in by the phone. Similarly if you are using a webcam, you are only seeing the image created by information from the computer. Anything you see on the computer is made by electric information sent from the motherboard.

Michelle:
What Henry said, you clearly laid out the fact that technology evolves after each generation.

Other than that, technology has deprived us from the world. Technology traps us in our own digital world and causes us to become aware of ourselves only.

I liked how you went deeply into how narcissistic we are and it reminds me of people who likes to take picture, as we call them "camera whores" <-- I think that's really funny.

Your reference to "FACEbook", "Ipod", "Iphone", and "Imac" really caught my attention. I read it and I was like oh shit, so true. Now that you mentioned "FACEbook", facebook actually sounds like a book about your "face" or your life. How narcissistic.

Your blog gave me a new point of view on facebook, thanks.

[Edits 9/21/09 8:26PM]
Jia Min
Hey Jia Min, I like how you talk about your feelings atm (at the moment, too lazy to type it out in the future).

You wonder whether advanced technology has been a positive contribution to the society or not. Advanced technologies are good in a way that Ipods can help people relax but they are also bad in a way that earphones can transmit germs into your ears.

I know how we all hate DRDs for taking over our lives (at least I do, a little) but I can also see that you have been attached to DRDs. You wish that we can go back to a time when technology was not that advanced but you also wish that there was a little bit of TV and internet. Clearly, you are hooked onto at least one DRD and it seems as if we need DRDs to entertain ourselves.

You have great questions and ideas but I feel that your ideas are all over the place. I think you should say all the positive aspects together and then the negative aspects.

I once too wondered how it is in rural areas; I told Adam today that I was sick of the city and he told me that there is nothing to do in rural areas. I think that if people from the city moved into the rural areas, they will use more DRDs than they did in the city because they need something to entertain them.

Lastly, I love your pictures; they are hilarious.

First Comment(s) [Edited]

Henry:
I agree with you; people have this need for attention.

Why is it that you can control yourself, but others can't?

Facebook can be addicting but I guess for you, it is not like a drug that you can't get off of.

Why is it that you can control yourself, but others can't?

The digital world is changing the way we communicate and causing us to expect projects to be done faster.

This made me realize the significance of computers at my internship site but I don't it's a bad thing because computers are more efficient.

I have to disagree with you when you say that we don't remember what people say when we are IM-ing; the whole conversation is right there in the box so you can just scroll up if you ever forget and I think this is one of the pros of IM.

It was nice reading your blog, thanks.

Carrie:
Did you just comment on your own blog? O_o

Anyways...

I like your sense of humor: "married to your phone".

Digitalization is a positive apsect of our lives in a way that we are able to connect to more people through the internet or phone. On the other hand, it can ruin our conversations because it takes the tone out of the conversations.

I totally agree with you on that; I would be on AIM and when someone would type "lol", I would be wondering "are they really laughing out loud?"

You say that we "do not NEED [digital devices] but it does make our world more efficient". Now I was wondering if you think it is right to allow digital devices to isolate us from the world because it is efficient, or we should do something about it?

When you said that you unconsciously walk over to your computer to turn it on every morning, you reminded me of when I would turn my computer on the first thing in the morning. i feel that I was conscious of it but the MMORPG are just so addicting.

Your post was awesome, thanks.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

First Comment(s)

Henry:
I agree with you; people have this need for attention.

Why is it that you can control yourself, but others can't?

Facebook can be addicting but I guess for you, it is not like a drug that you can't get off of.

Why is it that you can control yourself, but others can't?

The digital world is changing the way we communicate and causing us to expect projects to be done faster.

This made me realize the significance of computers at my internship site but I don't it's a bad thing because computers are more efficient.

I have to disagree with you when you say that we don't remember what people say when we are IM-ing; the whole conversation is right there in the box so you can just scroll up if you ever forget and I think this is one of the pros of IM.

It was nice reading your blog, thanks.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

HW 3 - 1st Blog Post

We are using an enormous amount of electricity. If we look at other parts of the world, they are probably not using as much as we do or they might not be using any at all. All this use of energy might lead to another black out.

All these digital/electronic images are not "real". They are created by electric signals inside the machines.

The good thing is that we can keep in contact using these electric devices (I can even be doing my homework on the computer using blogger) but the bad thing is that we are so hooked onto these devices, we might lose a part of ourselves from the world. People go home and turn on the computer or the TV and just sits there in front of it, forgetting there is so much more apart from the computer or the TV. Not only are the computer, cell phones, and TVs sucking the energy out of the world, it is also sucking the energy out of us - the people using it. We could be using the energy doing something better for the world.

[Edits 9/14/09 11: 16AM]
John:
I think that we cannot live without electronic devices. My friends were talking about hiking one day and one of them said to bring a cell phone so their parents can contact them. The other one said that the batteries would run out really quick and the first one was gonna reply with "bring a charger" before realizing that there is no outlet in the trails. Cell phones are a convenient thing but we rely so much on electricity that when there is none, we feel distressed.

The internet is also an awesome thing because it contains a lot of information but some people use it to connect to other people.

Some people say lol, lmao, or rofl just because they have nothing else to say.

I think face book can come in handy sometimes; it keeps you updated on people more than AIM does and on people who might be on the other side of the world (people who you cannot talk to on AIM). AIM is also an artificial thing because you cannot tell whether someone is sarcastic or not.

Texting is used for short messages so you do not have to call someone and say "Just to let you know.. bye". I think people are just using texts the wrong way.

I agree with you about internet sucking the lives out of us. We can be pursuing a hobby rather than exercising just our fingers.